The benevolent ghost of (blank)

The benevolent ghost of (blank) August 3, 2006

I’m beginning to feel haunted. When I was first given a tour of Big Delta high school, I was shown into the room of a departed math teacher. On the white board was a message for his students, and below that was a polite message to everyone else: please do not erase until after the first day of school. It is a measure of the respect that the departed must have commanded that the message was still in evidence today, as I visited the room for the second time.

(blank) was a prodigious teacher. The test scores of his classes – 100% pass rate for Algebra I last year – prove that, but the reverence with which he is spoken of among the remaining teachers is an even better indicator. He was TFA, and stayed two extra years. During that time, he built up an incredible collection of resources, which have fallen rather fortuitously into my hands.

Reading through his plans, schedules, benchmarks, worksheets, and tests, I feel rather like I am being haunted by the departed innovator. His methods have forced me to rethink my entire course structure and thus my classroom management plan; not because I want to take advantage of the work he has done to lesson my own load, but because it would simply be a crime for my students if I did not follow his lead.

Every class starts with a benchmark. A cross between a set of DoNow problems and a test. Each is designed to take 25 minutes, and they are timed. Any student who scores less than a 90% on the benchmarks receives a zero on that benchmark, until he or she makes it up. Any student receiving above a 90% will receive a 100% on that benchmark. Failure is simply unacceptable. It would never work in a regular schedule. But with 98 minutes a day for the entire year, it not only works, but it’s necessary and ideal. It’s strange that I can see myself moving closer to the Guestian model of instruction, even before I’ve stepped into the classroom. I don’t think I’ll spend my time in my desk chair – not only is it not comfortable enough, but I want to be walking among my students all the time. Proximity is the best CM, right? And looking over a kid’ shoulder is, in my opinion, one of the best methods of informal evaluation. But it’s not exhausting, like being on display all the time, and I’ll be tired enough without that.

I must admit it’s intimidating to be walking in the footsteps of such a ghost. Yet it is inspiring. He has set the benchmark, so to speak, for me and all the other math teachers at Big Delta. Now I just need to remember not to get too down on myself when these first few weeks don’t go according to plan. But I’ll take my cue from the ghost, and work my arse off to see that the year does go according to a plan; not just any plan, but a darn good one. Thank you, Mr. (blank). You’re a heck of a teacher, even in absentia. Too bad you didn’t leave lesson plans, or a pacing guide…